Urging Sweden and the UK to free Julian Assange

Before the 31st United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva today, 500 human rights organizations, law professors, former UN office holders, and high-profile rights defenders including four Nobel Peace Prize winners have urged the governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom to respect the United Nations’ decision to free Julian Assange. The statement was delivered to the Swedish and UK Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in Geneva.

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“We the undersigned, including legal and human rights organisations, academics, and policymakers condemn the reactions of the governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom to the finding by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that Julian Assange is arbitrarily detained.

The governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom are setting a dangerous precedent that undermines the United Nations Human Rights system as a whole. We urge Sweden and the United Kingdom to respect the binding nature of the human rights covenants on which the decision is based, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; as well as the independence, integrity and authority of the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

We therefore call on the governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom to comply without further delay with the Working Group’s findings and “ensure the right of free movement of Mr. Assange and accord him an enforceable right to compensation, in accordance with article 9(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
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Signatories include

• more than 500 high profile signatories from more than 60 countries
• more than 100 human & legal rights organizations including 16 national associations of lawyers and jurists
• 50 international law professors, former judges and jurists
• 4 Nobel Peace Prize winners
• 25 Freedom of expression organizations including Reporters Without Borders, the EFF and The Freedom of the Press Foundation.
• The immediately former UN Special Rapporteur for Arbitrary Detention Mads Adenas and five other former UN Special Rapporteurs, Experts and Working Group Chairs.
• The cities of Madrid & Barcelona
• Activists: Ai Wei Wei, Pussy Riot, Naomi Klein & Arundhati Roy
• Over 100 academics from 65 universities

Full list of signatures below.

http://diem25.org/urging-sweden-and-the-uk-to-free-julian-assange/